Some background:Our beautiful boy had to be put to sleep due to being at the final stages of Dilated Cardiomyopathy (gradual weakening of the heart muscles), despite having a great diet and being in great shape all his life. He also had many symptoms of Degenerative Myelopathy (gradual degeneration of the spinal nerves causing paralysis). The vet told me she sees these diseases a lot in shepherd-like dogs which is what he was (GSD/chow/???) He was like my son, an angel. He was only nine years old.After a few weeks our family is ready for a new family member. I decided to go for a purebred this time to get some predictability in temperament as well as health instead of gambling at the shelter again. Decided to go for an aussie since I think the breed fits most with my wants and life style (in fact I got the previous dog as an "aussie mix" until the wisdom panel thing I did told otherwise).I found a breeder with some puppies. She had two litters available. They were all already reserved except for 2 black tri male. I filled out the inquiry from her webpage and got a phone call about ten minutes after. The lady sounded very nice and was very enthused talking about aussies and her dogs.They live in a small nice farm. All the areas looked clean with nine of her adult aussies roaming around the fenced farm area and were free to enter and exit her home. They were all clean, calm, and nicely behaved. The puppies were all in a separate small temperature controlled shed/barn area next to the main home. The two litter were separated by two play pens. The area was clean, had water/food, couple of toys, and a box with wood shavings for them to learn to poop and pee in (they were 5 weeks old and the other litter 6 weeks). She tells me she and her family handles the puppies several times every day, and they are to be moved to the main home to get exposure to potty training when they get older. There were a bunch of ribbons on the wall from shows in the shed. She let me handle some of the puppies and kept reminding me to ask her anything if I had any questions. She says all her dogs are friendly and great with kids.The stock are tested for OFA, CERF, and MDR, all clear except "A3 - 1 to 2 extra eye lashes, no irritation" for the sire. I took a look inside her house after I asked to use the bathroom. A few barks from her dogs initially as I entered her home. The rest of her aussies standing around quietly in clean, cozy looking, southern type themed home. One has a cone on for (I think I recall her saying) a minor lip injury from playing too hard (she put medicine on it) and temporarily tied in the kitchen area to "prevent him from using furniture to remove the cone". She offers me a glass of ice water. Before I leave, she assures me that I am not forced to buy her puppies, and the deposit to make a reserve in any of them is refundable should I change my mind. She states she will gladly to take any puppies back if her buyers can no longer keep them for whatever reason. Later that night, I sent her a $200 deposit to hold the last available puppy as reserved (The puppies can leave once they turn 8 weeks). She offers and encourages me to stay in touch after I take the puppy home for any questions and advice.Everything looks great and it is clear to me that she loves her dogs except her stock are lacking in prestigious titles. They all have either or both UKC CH and INT'L CH, which after searching, are said to be easy to obtain. Other titles she has listed are CGC, which is again, easy to obtain (even my previous dog had that). The father of the sire has multiple CH from AKC, USASA, ASCA, and CKC(I assume as in Canadian not Continental) from another breeder.So finally to my question:Does this sound like a "legit" breeder to you? I am asking because although I have read everything about byb vs reputable, it is the first time I am purchasing from a breeder and I have no experience in the purebred/breed specific dog world. Could it be because she is a relatively beginning/novice breeder (her webpage says they moved to the farm in 2004)? Did I do right or wrong to purchase from her? I would like some advice from people who have more experience in these areas. via /r/dogs http://ift.tt/2rMJdWO
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